Lee Van Cleef westerns-under rated?

[David LaPell]

I have always been a fan of Lee Van Cleef, ever since I saw him in For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as a teenager and I have always wondered why he didn't get more popularity here than he did. I am reading a book on his biography, as far as I can tell one of only two ever written about him, and he had a pretty interesting life. I recently watched one of his other films, Death Rides a Horse the other day and would love to find Day of Anger on DVD. The good thing is that his other movies are out there. He also hunted and had quite a few guns but no one really knows what specifically. Does anyone else like him and his movies where he was the star?

 

[Watchdog]

Lee Van Cleef has his own sort of cult following among fans of the spaghetti westerns. Up until his roles as Colonel Mortimer and Angel Eyes, he'd pretty much been relegated to supporting roles.

Day of Anger is available from Amazon, as are his other films.

I actually have a mint copy (on vinyl, never played, still in the shrink wrap) of the soundtrack from The Big Gundown.

He was the perfect bad guy, but he was also a sympathetic good guy in some of his films. He died too young.

 

[Chuck24]

If you really watch old TV westerns, he appears a lot in small roles.

 

[EQGuy]

He is one of my favorite actors. He also appeared in High Noon. Another great cowboy actor is Ben Johnson.

 

[WuzzFuzz]

Before the westerns, he was a bit actor..Just saw him Wednesday on a old re-run of Perry Mason. He's been around for a while...I like him, in other than the westerns.

WuzzFuzz

 

[wnwitzell]

He did several non- westerns too. He was good as a police chief in John Carpenters "Escape from New York".

 

[rwsmith]

In terrific pain....

After being in a car crash he could barely ride a horse and they resorted to a lot of camera tricks and script changing to keep him off horses except at a slow walk (which turned out to be more menacing anyway).

The story of his lost finger is that he was building a playhouse for his daughter and had an accident. Not something that I can picture Angel Eyes doing.

He was one of my favorite bad guys.

 

[Grayfox]

I've always like Van Cleef, but I feel he was a victim of type casting. He was so good at playing the cold, steely eyed bad guy he rarely got a chance to do anything else. In my opinion, a waste of fine talent.

 

[bigride]

Speaking of Lee Van Cleef, do you remember this short-lived series?
https://youtu.be/DAZp_wbv0h4
I always expected him to pull a six gun at some point.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

It's impossible to underrate his "Sabata" movies" "Sabata!". "Return of Sabata!". "Sabata Meets Godzilla!". But his small parts in classic american weaterns and TV shows like The Rifleman, and collaboration with Clint Eastwood is a different story. I remember in one of his movies, I think "The Big Gundown", an ex gunfighter priest's name was "Brother S&W".

 

[sceva]

Believe he was one of Lee Marvin's sidekicks in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence

 

[cougar14]

Believe he was one of Lee Marvin's sidekicks in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence

...along with my favorite character actor, Strother Martin.

 

[Jack Flash]

I've always like Van Cleef, but I feel he was a victim of type casting. He was so good at playing the cold, steely eyed bad guy he rarely got a chance to do anything else. In my opinion, a waste of fine talent.

He may have brought some of that on himself. Early in his career, he went to an audition for a western. He showed up dressed all in black, from his boots to his hat, and came through the door with a menacing look in his eye.

The director took one look and said "You're hired!"

 

[cougar14]

Iy's been so long, I forgot where I heard it, but I think he lost that finger trimming a hedge.

 

[finesse_r]

Here are some that are available on Amazon. Most are in package deals and most are real stinkers. I agree he was good is several of his movies, especially the two made with Clint Eastwood, but many of his others were pityful.

Bad Man’s River – Lee Van Cleef – (4 DVD Lee Van Cleef Collection)
Beyond The Law - Lee Van Cleef (The Great American Western 4 movie Collection)

Captian Apache – Lee Van Cleef – (4 DVD Lee Van Cleef Collection)

Death Rides a Horse - Lee Van Cleef (The Great American Western 4 movie Collection)
Death Rides a Horse – Lee Van Cleef - (20 Spaghetti Western Classic Collection)

God’s Gun – Lee Van Cleef (The Great American Western 4 movie Collection)


Kid Vengeance – Lee Van Cleef – (4 DVD Lee Van Cleef Collection)
Kid Vengeance – Lee Van Cleef (20 Great Westerns –Heroes & Bandits collection)

Take a Hard Ride Lee Van Cleef-Fred Williamson (See Wild West Collection 2 Pack)